Bjarne Larsson, Gabriela

Abstract [en]

The subject of this thesis is all preserved secular statutes in Sweden from 1350 to 1500, with the exception of city privileges and statutes. The formal changes in these statutes and their contents are analyzed. A thorough investigation of the relationship of the statutes and their influence on the Swedish National Law of King Magnus Eriksson from appoximately 1350 and the National Law of King Christopher from 1442 is made.

The aim of this study is to investigate how the royal power on the one hand and the aristocracy on the other used statutory legislation to obtain political or economic power. It also analyzes the consequences of such legislation for the peasants. The statutes are here considered as a contract between the royal power and aristocracy concerning their different claims to political power or their claims to land, yield and farmers. Statutory decisions concerning the relationship between power and aristocracy were, to a great extent, incorporated both in the National Law og King Magnus Eriksson and in the Law of King Christopher. By incorporating these statutes in the national laws, the royal power and aristocracy gained control, regulated their mutual relationships and legitimized their power.

The statutory legislation differentiated the heterogeneous mass of peasants. This population was divided into the categories Crown peasants (freeholders, Sw. skattebönder) and peasants of the nobility (tenats, Sw. landbor). Through statutory legislation, the Crown tried to maintain the amount of freeholders (almost 50 % of this population) and to increase its revenue through new taxes. The Crown thus obtained greater control of the freeholders´ land and its cultivators. On the other hand, landlords united and there was therefore less mutual rivalry over the tenants, as the nobles tried to bind them more closely by submitting them to new rent fees. Even so, the Swedish tenants were able to maintain their independence. The balance of power between Crown and nobility, as well as the fact that they shared the peasants between them, ultimately meant that freeholders remained freeholders. Their land became economically sound enough to pay taxes to the Crown and in the long run, the Swedish freeholders obtained unique political power.